Apparatus for managing social games

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for managing inter-personal activities to facilitate matchmaking between single individuals, by instructing each individual what to do and with whom during a series of game sessions. Singles join a forum in which a plurality of activities contained in a database are individually assigned to participants, who confidentially express their preferences for specific activities and for other participants with whom to conduct activities. Expressed preferences are not disclosed to other individuals, but are input to a secure computer system that assigns the activities. Participants&#39; wish-lists influence assignments made by the computer, and random factors provide variety and protect privacy by obscuring the effect of the wish-lists. After each assignment, participants can update their wish-list to affect further assignments.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional Application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/841,268 filed Jul. 5, 2004, which in turn claims the benefitof U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/479,007, filed Jun. 15,2003 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/496,242, filed Aug.15, 2003.

This application is related to a U.S. patent application entitled“METHOD FOR MANAGING SOCIAL GAMES”, filed on the same day by the presentinventor as a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No.10/841,268 that is the parent of the present application.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/344,816 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/345,084, both filedon Feb. 1, 2006 as continuations-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.10/841,268 that is the parent of the present application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to computer-aided social activities, andin particular to computer-aided interpersonal activities formatchmaking.

2. Description of Related Art

Men and women seek mates for companionship, falling in love, andestablishing a happy family. Some are fortunate to obtain a suitablemate by happenstance, but many others experience difficulties and may beunsuccessful. The three main obstacles to obtaining a suitable mate are:

-   -   Not having enough opportunities for meeting eligible prospective        mates;    -   Having opportunities for meeting eligible prospective mates, but        making the wrong choices in mate selection;    -   Making a suitable choice of a prospective mate, but failing to        initiate a relationship.

Many commercial and non-commercial initiatives for arranging singlesmeeting opportunities have promoted singles' parties, bars, cruises,weekends, trips, video introductions, Internet dating, mobile chats,blind dates, and so forth, all of which suffer from one or more of thefollowing drawbacks:

-   -   Event attendees are judged principally by superficial        first-impressions, which favor only a small minority of men and        women; the great majority require a second look to appreciate.        As a result, it often happens that relatively few attractive men        and women become the prime target of the attendees of the        opposite sex, leaving the majority of attendees ignored by one        another.    -   One-on-one first meetings are often disappointing, leading to        feelings of awkwardness. Often, the interest of one party may        not be reciprocated, leading to embarrassing situations, where        one party must reject the other. In some cases, the rejected        party may continue to make annoying advances to the other.    -   Approaching and communicating with a stranger is embarrassing        for many people, who are unable to appear at their best under        such circumstances.    -   Women are sometimes offended by the way in which they are        approached. Some women also find it difficult to approach men.    -   Even after a successful first date that created mutual interest        for a second date, many people fail to further develop a mutual        interest toward intimacy and love. This often happens in spite        of having a true potential for becoming a successful couple.

Many innovators have proposed schemes for presorting singles accordingto predefined criteria, for introducing them to each other conveniently,and for facilitating the initial interaction, by using the Internet,cellular communication, or sophisticated matchmaking algorithms.Examples for such initiatives are included in PCT publication 00/62266to Liberman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,200 to Sudai et al.; U.S. patentapplication publication 2002/0040310 to Lieben et al.; US patentapplication publication 2002/0160339 to King et al.; PCT publication01/37232 to Pfeil; US patent application publication 2003/0087700 toWei; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,951 to Collins. However,currently-available schemes do not provide a comprehensive solution forsimultaneously overcoming the three obstacles noted above, byconcurrently offering meeting opportunities, helping participants makeworkable choices, and facilitating the start of relationships.

“Speed dating”, a relatively-new dating method, made an important stepforward. It is based on systematically arranging short (3-8 minute)introductory meetings among strangers. An equal number of, say, 20 menand 20 women, register for an event that takes place in a restaurant, abar or a cafe, around 20 tables. They are identified by name tagsdisplaying only a nickname, with full names and contact detailsexpressly excluded. Participants are prescheduled to have brief meetingswith other participants of the opposite sex, to introduce themselves andmake an impression. Once the predetermined number of meetings has takenplace and many participants have been introduced to those of theopposite sex, an optional conventional party is held. At the end of theevent, participants report to the organizers, via a paper form orelectronically, which of the parties of the opposite sex they would liketo date conventionally, for romantic purposes, platonic friendships orbusiness connections. The organizers then report to the participants,usually the next day, of successful matches, including exchanging theircontact details, and participants then call each other and thereafterconduct conventional relationships.

Speed dating eliminates some of the obstacles of the prior datingmethods, primarily the burden of unsuccessful first dates, theembarrassment of making a first approach to a stranger, the need toexpressly reject others, potential unwanted advances, and the asymmetrybetween men and women. However, speed dating still suffers from relianceon superficial first impressions, and thus fails to offer the chance tomake a second impression, which is so critical for the majority of menand women. Speed dating not only does nothing to facilitate forming arelationship beyond the first mutual introduction, but also missespossible matching opportunities that could result from a second chancewithin the same group. Take the case, for example, where a man hasselected two women, but neither has reciprocated by selecting him.First, he comes away from the event with nothing. Second, he may haveoverlooked a third woman because of his focus on the selected two. Andthird, one or both of the two women he originally selected may havedeveloped an interest in him upon a second meeting. In short, speeddating eases the pain in a first meeting with strangers, but does verylittle to help the strangers in developing interest in each other.

There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highlyadvantageous to have, a means whereby single people can meet and becomeacquainted with prospective mates in a comfortable setting that isconducive to the proper selection of a prospective mate, which respondsto the needs of the majority of men and women who require a secondimpression for knowing and getting known by each other, whichfacilitates the forming and growth of solid inter-personalrelationships, and which does not have the drawbacks and limitations ofpresent methods. This goal is met by the present invention.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION DEFINITIONS

The terms “subscriber” and “participant” herein denote an individualperson or an established couple undertaking to participate in gamesaccording to the present invention, for interpersonal interaction withother subscribers. Primarily, in most of the preferred embodimentsdescribed herein, a subscriber is a person seeking a mate of theopposite sex. However, a subscriber can also be a person seeking a mateof the same sex, or an established couple seeking companionship withother established couples.

The term “forum” herein denotes a closed group of subscribers from whomgame participants can be selected by the system of the presentinvention. A forum can exist within a short-term event such as a partyor a cruise; or within a long-term framework, such as a club ofparticipating singles within a metropolitan area, who wish to interactwith others in their free time. Sometimes a large group of subscribers—a“community”—can be divided into several distinct forums, each forummanaged separately and autonomously according to the present invention;such division may be made on the basis of the subscribers' profiles orinterests, or just randomly for easing the acquaintance between theforum members and making the games more effective.

The term “game assignment” also abbreviated “assignment” herein denotesa specification of an interpersonal activity to be performed by asubscriber, in front of or cooperatively in combination with othersubscribers. Typically an assignment indicates what, when, where, andhow activities are to be performed, and sometimes may also specify whatis excluded and prohibited. The term “face-to-face assignment” denotes adirect personal interaction among participants, and the term “virtualassignment” denotes interaction among participants via electroniccommunication.

The term “game” herein denotes a selected forum subset of one or moresubscribers, with a “matched” game assignment, which is a coordinatedidentical or complementary assignment, assigned to each selectedsubscriber of the subset. Often, a game is a “couple game” involving apair of subscribers having matching “couple assignments”, or a “groupgame” involving more than two subscribers. A “game series” hereindenotes an ordered plurality of games.

The term “score” or “rank” relates to a participant expressing his orher relative level of interest for prospective mates or for anassignment in which he or she wants to participate, respectively. A highscore for another participant expresses high interest in interactingwith that participant, while a high rank for a specific assignmentexpresses high interest in performing that assignment.

The term “personal wish-list” or “wish-list” herein denotes an inputfrom a subscriber that is entered electronically into the system of thepresent invention, for scoring prospective mates and/or rankingassignments. Typically, the personal wish-list addresses both with whomthe subscriber wishes to interact and what assignments are preferred forsuch interaction.

In the context of the present invention, the term “prospective mate” isused to denote any participant who is conditionally eligible to become amate for another given participant. A prospective mate is subject tofurther evaluation and may be disqualified, whereas an actual mate isconsidered to be someone with whom a long-term commitment is made. Insome places, such as in the drawings, the term “mate” is used alone forsimplicity, it is being understood that this term denotes the concept ofa “prospective mate” rather than an actual mate.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present invention provides systems and operational capabilities fora series of computer-aided games that are entertaining by themselves,and which enable singles to get to know other singles in a positive,encouraging atmosphere.

The system of the present invention can also operate to facilitateacquaintance and companionship among established couples.

A specific object of the present invention is to allow singles toinitiate a contact with preferred prospective mates without disclosingtheir choices and wishes to others, including their preferredprospective mates.

Another object of the present invention is to give singles a chance toknow and to become known by other singles who, upon initial meeting,might not be their first choice for a prospective mate; but who, uponfurther encounter, would be found worthy of consideration as aprospective mate.

Still another object of the present invention is to reduce the risk ofembarrassment when meeting and approaching new prospective mates andeither initiating a successful interaction with them or discontinuingthe interaction because of disinterest.

Additionally, the present invention seeks to provide singles with theopportunity to showcase their personal qualities by entering preferencesfor assignments that emphasize and highlight such qualities. Also,participants may select games that reveal qualities that are importantto them in the selection of a prospective mate.

Furthermore, the present invention seeks to provide equality between menand women regarding opportunities for approaching each other, toovercome traditional asymmetries that may exist in certain cultures orsocieties.

Also, the present invention seeks to support both face-to-face andvirtual meetings, and combinations thereof.

In addition, the present invention seeks to foster the initiation ofmutual affection, in a cautious and effective manner, betweenparticipants who have already developed mutual interest. Thus, a seriesof games with the participation of mutually-selected mates is preferablydevised with an evolving order of intensity and intimacy and accordingto the preferences of the participants, to highlight their bestqualities and build the relationship.

Broadly, the present invention provides a computer-assisted gameenvironment that allows participants to discretely specify theirpreferences of whom they would like to approach and how they would liketo make the approach, without disclosing their preferences to others,while still influencing the upcoming events according to thosepreferences.

There is thus provided, according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, an apparatus for managing a game for a plurality ofsubscribers, including: a first database containing a plurality of gameassignments; a second database containing a personal wish list for eachof the subscribers; and a processor responsive to the second databasefor picking at least one subscriber from the plurality of subscribersand assigning to each of the picked subscribers an assignment from thefirst database. The apparatus preferably includes a random numbergenerator to facilitate the picking and assigning operations. After acurrent game is completed, the apparatus is preferably operable toreceive updates to the respective personal wish lists, to affect furtherpicking and assigning operations toward the next game.

When two subscribers are picked by the apparatus for a couple game, thepicking is preferably affected by their mutual attraction, calculatedfrom their mutual scores in their respective wish lists; the gameselected for such a couple is preferably affected by the ranks set bythe two participants for the game assignments of the first database.Couple games are based on matched game assignments which are eitheridentical or complementary. Games can be executed within a face-to-facemeeting, or virtually via electronic communication.

Subscribers use user terminals to send their wish lists to and receivegame assignments from the apparatus. A specific embodiment adapted for atelevised reality show is implemented by adding TV cameras and abroadcast system to share the games and wish list with an audience, uponthe participants' approval.

Also, a method for participating is social games is described.Participants use user terminals to send their personal wish list withrespect to preferred mates and preferred game assignments, and toreceive is return game assignments with other participants in accordanceto the personal wish lists. Also, a computer-implemented softwareproduct is described to read subscribers' wish lists and picksubscribers and assign game assignments in accordance to the wish lists.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is herein described, by way of example only, withreference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a system inaccordance to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a game generator that forms part of apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the content of an assignmentdatabase included in a game generator according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a schematic illustration of the content of a record from theassignment database.

FIG. 3B is a schematic illustration of an assignment categorizationwithin the assignment database.

FIG. 3C is a schematic illustration of another assignment categorizationwithin the assignment database.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of the content of a personal recordof the subscriber database according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4A is a table illustrating an exemplary scoring of prospectivemates.

FIG. 4B is a table illustrating an exemplary ranking of assignments.

FIG. 4C is a table illustrating another exemplary ranking ofassignments.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of game rules according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a registration process in a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an update process in a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a game procedure within a preferred embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a game procedure within an alternativepreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows three tables containing selection strategies of couplesaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10A shows three tables containing selection strategies ofassignments according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a game session according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a game selection procedure according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is flowchart of a process for generating a series of gamesaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic illustration of a structure of frameworks for anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an arrangement ofcomputers for implementing the structure of FIG. 14 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a setup for atelevised reality show based on the games of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram illustrating call routingtechniques that can be employed for preferred embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic illustration of personalization of subsets ofassignments for advanced couple games according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating advanced couple games according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The principles and operation of a system for managing interpersonalactivities according to the present invention may be understood withreference to the drawings and the accompanying description.

Overview

The system of the present invention provides a service to subscribers byarranging games in which one or more subscribers participate. The gamesare designed to exhibit the advantageous and attractive qualities of thesubscribers, to arrange meetings and interaction with preferredprospective mates, to provide equality of opportunity between women andmen, to induce a romantic and adventurous atmosphere that encourages apersonal connection between matching participants, and to build uprelationships.

A game includes a game assignment assigned to a subscriber, possibly incoordination with matched game assignments assigned to othersubscribers. A non-limiting example of an assignment for a singlesubscriber is to sing on stage in front of other subscribers during aparty, while implicitly, other participants are assigned to listen tothat singer. Non-limiting examples of a game for two subscribers arebuilding a snowman together, interviewing strangers together, walking inthe park for 30 minutes, or playing tennis. Non-limiting examples of agame that involves a plurality of couples include competitions amongcouples, such as a couples' tennis match or a trivia quiz. Anon-limiting example of a game involving many subscribers isparticipating in a specific party or journey organized for mutualacquaintance. The content of the game assignment database is constantlyevolving, and is limited only by the imagination. A good assignment isone that exhibits the advantageous qualities of the participant,encourages cooperation and teamwork, and is enjoyable and entertaining.

Games arranged according to the present invention can take place under avariety of circumstances. Games can be arranged within the context of aparty, a cruise or a singles' weekend, or can be organized within theparticipants' free time during the work week, for example after businesshours or at lunch time. They can also take place virtually, through theInternet or the telephone.

Subscribers register to become members of a forum. During registrationthey preferably enter their personal details and initial wish-list intothe system. Preferably, they also sign a contract and commit to obey theforum's rules regarding behavior toward other participants. One of therules preferably stipulates avoiding contact with other forum membersexcept as instructed by the system through specific assignments.

The system of the present invention tells subscribers what to do andwith whom, relieving them from the need to be original in theirapproach, and giving them encouragement, via a “reason” to approachothers. Also, equality of opportunity between women and men issupported, allowing women in all cultures and societies to approach menwithout appearing aggressive, forward, or unfeminine.

A central element of the present invention is a personal wish-listentered and continually updated by each subscriber, which affects thesystem's selection of prospective mates and assignments. Such awish-list preferably includes scoring the subscriber's interest in othersubscribers, as well as ranking the subscriber's interest in specificassignments. Based on the individual wish-lists, the system assigns gameassignments to the subscribers. The system gives higher probability toassignments between subscribers who prefer the company of each other,lower probability if only one expresses interest in the other, and evenlower probability for engaging couples who are neutral to each other,provided that neither has designated the other as unacceptable. Then,after each game is concluded, the participants are preferably invited toenter their feedback by updating their wish-list. Thus, if two neutralparticipants discover a liking for each other during the game, theydiscretely upgrade the scoring of their prospective mate, whichincreases the probability of meeting the same prospective mate again insubsequent games. On the other hand, one may mark his or her previousgame partner as unacceptable, avoiding further interaction with thatsame person.

An important preferred feature of the present invention is in protectingthe privacy of the subscribers. The wish-list of a subscriber ispreferably kept confidential. The wish-list influences the selection ofprospective mates and assignments by the system, but the preferred useof a random factor in the game selection algorithm prevents others fromdeducing a particular subscriber's wish-list from the visibleassignments and associations. Thus, a subscriber can tell the systemdiscreetly that he or she wishes to avoid the company of anothersubscriber, and never need again interact with that subscriber. This isdone, however, without having to tell the other subscriber directly, andwithout other subscribers being able to definitely determine thispreference. The opposite is also true: a subscriber can highly increasethe probability of interacting with another subscriber as a prospectivemate, and/or request a more daring assignment with that prospectivemate, without revealing his or her feelings to any of the othersubscribers. In addition, the wish-list is preferably not accessible byanyone other than the subscriber himself/herself—even the forumorganizers and operators are preferably not able to access thisinformation. In order not to disqualify subscribers that may benefitfrom a “second look” for appreciating their qualities, the rulespreferably limit the number or percentage of subscribers one is allowedto exclude as unacceptable.

Often, a couple of subscribers that has developed a liking for eachother during their interactions may decide to quit their membership inthe forum, because they wish to continue to develop their relationshipindependently by themselves outside the forum. This may be exercised bythe two assigning a “most preferred” status to each other and mutuallyselecting to “retire from the forum with my most preferred prospectivemate” as their preferred next assignment. Such events are the ultimatesuccess of the system of the present invention.

A forum according to the present invention can also be configured tomatch established couples who seek companionship to form a long termcompany. It can also be configured to match persons of the same sex. Or,a forum according to the present invention can be established andconfigured for entertaining singles and/or established couples, ratherthan for creating a framework for matchmaking. In all above cases, it isnecessary only to adapt the assignments and the game rules to attain thedesired atmosphere and results.

System Description

Reference is made to FIG. 1, which shows a preferred embodiment 100 ofthe present invention. Game generator 110 is the heart of the system. Itis a computer that communicates with subscribers through user terminals120, which include personal terminals 123 and/or public terminals 125,and is controlled by the forum organizer via a manager terminal 130. Theterm “computer” herein denotes any data processing device or system,including, but not limited to personal computers (PCs), data networksand Internet servers. Personal terminal 123 is a device that is personalto a subscriber for allowing data entry into and/or data reception fromgame generator 110. Examples of personal terminal 123 include, but arenot limited to, cellular telephones with short message service (SMS)capability, one-way and two-way pagers, and personal computers of alltypes and sizes connectable to the Internet, to a cellular telephonynetwork, to a cellular wireless data network, or to a local wirelessnetwork using short-range IR or RF communication (the latter case beinguseful especially for preferred embodiments of the present inventionthat are implemented within a confined small area). If virtualassignments are included, personal terminals 123 are also used forsubscriber-to-subscriber communication, which adds devices such as landtelephones and video phones in the list of optional personal terminals123. Public terminal 125 is any input and/or output device accessible tomore than one subscriber and allowing data entry into and/or datareception from game generator 110. Non-limiting examples include apublic computer allowing a subscriber to communicate with game generator110 via the Internet or a local network, by identifying himself orherself by username and password (or an alternative user authenticationmeans); a video screen; a video projector; a printer printing gamedetails; or a public address system used to announce games within aparty. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments a subscriber mayuse various communication options, for example enter his/her personalrecord via a home PC 123 connected to the Internet, update his/herwish-list by sending an SMS message from cellular telephone 123 to gamegenerator 110, and read the details of his/her next game on a largevideo screen 125 within a party site. Manager terminal 130 allows theforum organizer to customize, enter and update assignments and gamerules, monitor games, and intervene or veto in exceptional cases, forinstance when an outdoors assignment is impossible due to currentweather conditions. Communication links 101 and 107 may include allkinds of wired and wireless communication means known in the art,capable of carrying signals between game generator 110, manager terminal130 and user terminals 120.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which illustrates game generator 110 inmore detail. A processor 160 includes a computer programmed to run agame program 165 which generates games by assigning assignments from anassignment database 150 to subscribers from a subscriber database 140,according to subscriber wish-lists 145 included in personal records 141and to game rules 170. Processor 160 preferably includes a random numbergenerator 160R for including a random factor in the selection of gameparticipants and/or assignments, which facilitates selections ofassignments and participants and protects the privacy of subscribers bymasking their wish-lists; thus, from a game assigned to a subscriber onecannot determine with certainty whether the associated assignment orpartner were preferred in that subscriber's wish-list or just selectedrandomly by processor 160 using random number generator 160R. Subscriberdatabase 140 includes, for each subscriber, personal record 141, enteredby the subscriber upon subscription and being updated regularly, inparticular to refresh the subscriber's wish-list 145 in response to theresults of recent games; the subscriber inputs are made using userterminals 120 and are received thorough input port 175 and communicationlink 101. Assignment database 150 includes assignments 151, and gamerules 170 include rules 171; both are optionally customized by the forumorganizer using manager terminal 130, and are received via control port177 and communication link 107. Output port 176 is used to announce thegames generated by processor 160 by sending game details to userterminals 120 via communication link 101. Guide database 182 includesviewable and/or printable files with guides for forum organizers andsubscribers, providing guidelines, ideas and tips to make the games moreeffective. Such guides are distributed when appropriate by processor 160via manager terminal 130 or user terminals 120. Call router 180 isoptionally included for cases where the system of the present inventionis applied to manage virtual games, to allow subscribers to communicatewith each other while masking their contact details (e.g. cellulartelephone number or email address), as illustrated in more detail inFIG. 17.

It will be appreciated that the blocks described in FIGS. 1-2 arelogical rather than physical entities, and can be implemented using avariety of suitable hardware, operating systems and database softwareknown to persons skilled in the art. Moreover, they can be hosted oncomputer networks, and even have a single block spread over more than asingle computer; in particular, personal record 141 may have thepersonal wish-list record 145 hosted on a different computer from theone hosting the other contents of the record, for functionality orprivacy reasons. Also, the system can be compacted, even to the extremecase of an all-in-one configuration, wherein a single personal computeris used to implement the functionalities of game generator 110, managerterminal 130, and user terminals 120 materialized as a public terminal125.

The Game Assignment Database

An important feature of the present invention is a collection of aplurality of game assignments, collectively devised to highlight theparticipants' qualities, to create mutual interest, to encouragetogetherness, to induce a romantic and adventurous atmosphere, and toentertain. The term “assignment database” herein denotes any suchcollection of a plurality of game assignments that is accessible to acomputer, as defined herein. Assignments are categorized intoface-to-face assignments where a participant directly meets otherparticipants, and/or virtual assignments, where a meeting betweenparticipants takes place over a communication link such as Internet mailor chat, telephone calls, or SMS messages.

FIG. 3 illustrates assignment database 150 in more detail. It containsassignments 151 in various assignment categories such as one-playerassignments 151A, couple assignments 151B (including competitions amongtwo or more couples 151C), and multiple-player assignments 151D.

One-player assignments 151A are designed to exhibit an individual'stalents and personality to a plurality of subscribers. Thus, inone-player assignment other subscribers are implicitly assigned as anaudience. Non-limiting examples of one-player assignments include:

-   -   Singing on stage;    -   Organizing and leading a journey;    -   Telling a story to a group of listeners;    -   Serving a home-baked cake;    -   Composing a poem on a specified theme and distributing it        electronically to the forum members within a specified schedule        (virtual assignment).

Couple assignments 151B are designed to acquaint prospective mates withone another and encourage togetherness and cooperation. Non-limitingexamples include participating in:

-   -   Building a snowman;    -   Meeting for lunch;    -   Walking in the park for 30 minutes;    -   Playing tennis;    -   Rehearsing and performing a song on stage, where one sings and        the other plays the piano;    -   Inviting the other to a home-cooked meal;    -   Playing chess over the internet (virtual assignment);    -   Chatting over a cellular phone on a specified topic for a        predetermined amount of time while driving to work, when the        participants are simultaneously called and guided by the game        generator (virtual assignment).

Couple competition assignments 151C are a subset of couple assignments151B, devised to further encourage togetherness and cooperation by aparticipating couple by competing against other couples. Non-limitingexamples include participating in:

-   -   A multiple-couple trivia quiz;    -   A tournament of couples-tennis matches;    -   Dance competition;    -   A multiple-couple trivia quiz over the Internet (virtual        assignment).

Multiple-player assignments 151D involve a number of individuals andintroduce them to each other when they are not yet ready to select aprospective mate or be selected as a prospective mate, or when thesystem could not assign them a prospective mate in a current gamesession. Some non-limiting examples include participating in:

-   -   Having a picnic in the park and discussing free press;    -   Going on a one-day cruise and studying folk dancing;    -   Volunteering to entertain children in the hospital via        predefined teams and roles;    -   Seeing a movie and discussing it afterwards;    -   Playing a role-game, wherein each participant has a pre-assigned        role, such as in a theater play or in a simulation of real-life        situations;    -   Having a group discussion in an Internet chat room on a        specified theme (virtual assignment).

It will be appreciated that games are composed of matched assignments,i.e. assignments that are identical or complementary and are executed ina coordinated manner. Thus, to further game formation the assignmentsfrom database 150 are further fine-tuned to include additional detailsof where, when, with whom and how, as well as definition ofcomplementary roles in the appropriate cases, such as who is playing thepiano and who is singing.

FIG. 3A shows the contents of each record 152 of an assignment 151 fromassignment database 150. Detailed description 152A is a field describingthe assignment in detail. When sent to a subscriber, this information,with added details pertaining to specifics such as partneridentification, place, time and matched roles, where appropriate,explains to the subscriber how to participate. In the case where therespective game is composed of complementary, non-identical assignments,field 152A includes the respective variations. Field 152B indicates theassignment category from fields 151A-151D. Fields 152C and 152D specifythe intensity and intimacy levels, respectively, that are pre-assignedto each assignment, in the scale of, say, 1-5; this allows the system toescalate interpersonal interaction by assigning lighter assignments to acouple in their first meeting, and gradually increasing the level ofintensity and intimacy for the next mutual meetings; thus, building asnowman can be assigned, for example, intensity 2 and intimacy 2,walking in the park is assigned intensity 1 and intimacy 3, and maninviting a woman for a dinner he cooked can be assigned intensity 3 andintimacy 4. Assignments with higher levels of intensity and intimacy canbe also adapted to couples which have reached a predefined mutualattraction score, as discussed regarding FIGS. 5 and 10 below. Also, theintensity rating can be calibrated for participants in assignments thatinvolve face-to-face meetings, when the system realizes that they residefar away from each other; thus, meeting for a cup of coffee could berated at intensity level 1 for participants who are neighbors, but ratedat intensity level 4 for participants who need to travel 40 miles tomeet. Also, in an exemplary embodiment, the intensity of allface-to-face assignments can be temporarily upgraded if the forumorganizer recognizes that harsh weather conditions suggest a preferencefor virtual assignments.

It will be appreciated that both the list of categories and the specificassignments of assignment database 150 described above are exemplaryonly, and assignment database 150 is expected to be ever-evolving andcontinually updated. It will be noted also that assignment database 150,as well as a subset actually shown and offered to each specificsubscriber, may change between game sessions in accordance to weatherconditions, the level of mutual acquaintance among participants selectedfor the same game, and personal profiles.

FIG. 3B demonstrates symbolically that assignments within database 150can include face-to-face assignments 151F and/or virtual assignments151V, which respectively relate to direct personal interaction amongparticipants and interaction among participants via electroniccommunication.

FIG. 3C demonstrates symbolically that matched assignments 151′ withindatabase 150 that are adequate for couple or multiple-player games caninclude identical assignments 151″ (e.g. a couple building a snowmantogether) and/or complementary assignments 151′″ (e.g. the assignment ofthe man is to invite the woman to a dinner he cooked and to cook thatdinner, while the assignment of the woman to agree to be invited andthen join him for that dinner).

FIG. 4 illustrates a personal record 141 from subscriber database 140,including a subscriber ID record 142, which is unique within a forum.This ID is preferably used for all system transactions related to aspecific subscriber. The ID can be, for example, a serial numberassigned by the system, or a nickname chosen by the subscriber andchecked by the system for uniqueness. It may be printed on badges borneby party participants, or be included in a subset of the subscriberdatabase that is made accessible to the forum members and includes IDsand photos. Personal data record 143 includes all the usual personaldetails that generally categorize a person, such as name, age, sex,profession, marital status, height, hobbies, smoking habits, photo, andcontact details. It also includes the subscriber terminal address, i.e.,the specifics of user terminal 120 for sending assignments to the user,such as an email address, a cell phone number or a pager number, alog-in username and password, etc. If the forum allows games to takeplace during the week and not only within a specific event, thesubscriber's free-time days and hours are indicated and updated asneeded in personal data record 143 through user terminal 120. Gameparticipation history record 144 includes past games and partners, toenable processor 160 to take the past history into account whenassigning new assignments, e.g. for avoiding the repetition ofassignments or for minimizing the probability that poor mutualconnections are repeated.

Personal wish-list 145 is central to the present invention since itallows a subscriber to influence the assortment of partners andassignments assigned to him or her by the system, by scoring prospectivesubscribers and assignments. The scoring system described below uses thescale of 0-9 (one decimal digit) to facilitate compact scoring protocolswhen cellular SMS or DTMF messaging is used, as explained in more detailbelow. Wish list 145 includes prospective mate scores, which is a tabletying a score (0-9) to the ID of each potential prospective mate. If asubscriber has identified a unique partner with whom he or she wouldlike to spend time, that partner is scored ‘9’ in table 145M. Rules 170then highly increase the probability of the subscriber's next gameinvolving the selected mate, especially if a symmetric selection hasbeen made by that prospective mate in his or her wish-list 145. Whilepreferably only one subscriber ID can be scored ‘9’ by each subscriber,any number of other score figures can be entered into table 145M withrespect to other subscribers, affecting the probability of meeting oneof them. Score of ‘0’ identifies “unacceptable” or “excluded”prospective mates that the present subscriber does not want to meet, andaccordingly will not be assigned to him or her by the system.Preferably, the number or percentage of excluded prospective matesentered into table 145M is limited by the system, to reduce theprobability of lockup situations, whereby a subscriber is excluded byall participants of the opposite sex not excluded by him or her.Preferably, all subscribers not specifically scored default to score‘1’, with a low but non-zero probability of being assigned for a mutualgame. Since a few exceptionally-attractive people may be widely scoredhigh by many other subscribers, only a few of them can have their firstchoice fulfilled, and many games thus involve prospective mates thatwere initially less interested in each other. After the game, eachsubscriber has a better and sounder opinion on his or her prospectivemate, and has an opportunity to upgrade or downgrade the score of theirrecent partner. FIG. 4A describes an exemplary table 145M filled in byMary who presently scores Peter, Paul, John and Jim by ‘6’, ‘1’, ‘0’ and‘6’, respectively.

Another part of wish-list 145 of FIG. 4 is table 145A which ranks theassignments from assignment database 150. FIG. 4B describes a simplifiedtable 145A-1 where Mary ranks assignments A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H fromassignment database 150 by ‘0’, ‘0’, ‘9’, ‘3’, ‘4’, ‘4’, ‘2’, ‘6’,respectively, to affect the probability of these assignments beingselected for her (obviously, the assignment details from database 150are presented to Mary when scoring). FIG. 4C describes an alternativeembodiment 145A-2 of table 145A of FIG. 4; in this embodiment,assignments are ranked also with respect to the prospective partner.Thus, in this example, Mary highly prefers to have assignment C withPeter, while with Jim she prefers to share assignment E. The assignmentranking scheme of FIG. 4C allows more flexibility than this of FIG. 4B,but requires higher effort when filling-in the wish-list, making bothschemes viable alternatives.

Typically, personal wish-list 145 is dynamic and is frequently updatedby subscribers as a result of game experience and the addition of newsubscribers and new game assignments, or simply according to a changingmood or weather.

It will be appreciated that the scoring and ranking paradigms describedabove are exemplary. Other scoring paradigms, for example assigninginteger number in the range of 0-3 to indicate the prospective mate andgame preferences in the scale of ‘excluded’, ‘acceptable’, ‘preferable’and ‘the most preferable’, or using a non-linear scoring such as ‘0’,‘1’, ‘6’, ‘9’ for same, are also possible and may make it easier forsubscribers to select. Even a three-level scoring paradigm may beemployed, for example for classifying others as ‘excluded’, ‘acceptable’and ‘the most preferable one’; however, additional levels are desirableto allow finer and more effective pairing. Such multi-level scoringparadigms encourage the participant to give a chance, determined by thescore (i.e. by the relative level of interest), not only to a singleattractive participant, but also to others that require (and hopefullydeserve) a second look in order to be appreciated.

In addition, personal record 141 is preferably departmentalized, toseparate between general personal data of fields 142-144, and personalwish-list 145. Personal wish-list 145 reflects the intimate wishes anddesires of the subscriber, and is therefore preferably accessible onlyto user terminal 120 of the respective subscriber and to processor 160for generating games. Preferably, it remains inaccessible to othersubscribers, as well as to manager terminal 130. Thus, in someembodiments of the present invention, personal wish-list 145 may resideon a separate storage device, or even on a separate computer forisolation from the rest of personal record 141.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, describing game rules 170, which arepart of game program 165 and influence the way processor 160 manages thesystem and makes game selections. Rules 171 are categorized intowish-list rules 171A, prospective mate selection rules 171B, andassignment selection rules 171C. Rules 171 are optionally updateable bythe forum organizer via manager terminal 130.

Wish-list rules 171A take effect when a subscriber enters or updates hisor her wish-list 145 in personal record 141 via user terminal 120. Thewish-list rules are devised to prevent situations of game lockup, suchas where all men could have selected the same woman as the mostpreferred prospective mate, and exclude all other women in the forum.Another game lockup situation would occur if all men selected a romanticdinner as their only acceptable assignment, while that particularassignment is unanimously excluded for the first assignment by allwomen. It is intended that the wish-list rules encourage subscribers toparticipate in games that they would otherwise be too shy to play.Exemplary wish-list rules may include the following constraints:

-   -   only one prospective mate can be scored ‘9’ (most preferred) by        any subscriber;    -   no more than 50% of subscribers of the opposite sex from        subscriber database 140 may be excluded (scored ‘0’) by a        subscriber;    -   no more than 75% of assignments from assignment database 150 may        be excluded by a subscriber.

Entries for wish list 145 that violate such rules are declined byprocessor 160 and the user is prompted to enter an alternative choice.

Prospective mate selection rules 171B determine the way processor 160selects game participants. Preferably, there are rules 171D for making afirst match and separate rules 171E for determining a consecutive matchfollowing a mutual game. Non-limiting examples for a first game rule171D may include:

-   -   assign the arithmetic sum of the scores for the mutual        attraction score of each couple, except that ‘0’ is assigned for        mutual attraction if any of the individual scores is ‘0’;    -   make a mandatory selection of a couple whose mutual attraction        score is ‘18’, and assign a mutual assignment to both;    -   randomly match and select any other couple with probability        according to the mutual attraction score.

An example for implementation of these rules is illustrated below withrespect to FIG. 10.

Here are some non-limiting examples for consecutive game selection rules171E, based on the scoring scheme example described with respect torules 171D above:

-   -   keep a couple together when the mutual attraction score reaches        ‘18’;    -   if any of the prospective mates has upgraded the other (i.e. has        increased the other's score), add ‘5’ to the mutual attraction        score toward the next couple selection;    -   if the mutual attraction score is between ‘12’-‘17’, keep        prospective mates together with probability of 95% for up to        three consecutive games;    -   if the mutual attraction score is between ‘7’-‘11’, keep        prospective mates together with probability of 90% for up to        three consecutive games;    -   after the third consecutive game together, prospective mates are        to be matched according to the first-game rules 171D.

Assignment selection rules 171C determine the respective probabilitiestaken into account by processor 160 in selecting correspondingassignments in response to subscribers' wish-lists 145. Processor 160may also take into account the game participation history 144 and acouple assignment intensity and intimacy level classification 152C and152D, respectively, to adapt the intensity and intimacy levels to thelevels of mutual acquaintance (measured, for instance, by the serialnumber of the mutual game for a certain couple) and mutual attractionbetween the two prospective mates.

The following is a non-limiting example for assignment selection rules171C:

-   -   assign one-player assignments 151A or multiple-player        assignments 151D only in cases where couple assignments 151B        (including competition among couples assignments 151C) are not        applicable (this may happen if the numbers of participating men        and woman are not equal, or there remain only subscribers that        have excluded each other);    -   for couple assignments, select only assignments with intensity        and intimacy levels that do not exceed their mutual meeting        count (i.e. not exceeding level 1 on the first meeting, level 2        at the second mutual assignment, etc.);    -   a couple assignment is ranked by a mutual assignment rank        according to the arithmetic sum of the individual ranking of the        participants, except that a mutual assignment rank of ‘0’ is        applied if either of the participants has given that assignment        a rank of ‘0’;    -   for a couple, select an activity randomly from all those that        have passed the intimacy and intensity criteria, have not been        shared by same couple before within their last ten games, and        have a high mutual assignment rank;    -   for one-player or multiple-player assignments, randomly select        assignments from those which have not been assigned before to        the participant, and have a high assignment rank.

It will be appreciated that the above rules are exemplary only, and manyother rules and variations can be devised according to the tastes andpreferences of various audiences. Specifically, if the subscribers arealready established couples and are seeking the companionship of othercouples or just entertainment, all couples' games and selection rulesneed to be adapted accordingly. Appropriate modifications are alsoneeded if the subscribers are seeking partners of the same sex.

Operation of a Preferred Embodiment

Reference in made to FIG. 6, which illustrates the registration processfor a new subscriber. Registration starts in a step 200, whereadministrative forms and contracts (not shown) may be filled and signed,to establish the subscriber's obligations to the organizer and the othersubscribers, such as payment arrangements with the organizer andcommitting not to communicate with other subscribers out of theframework of the games of the present invention. In a step 201 the userapproaches a user terminal 120 to establish the respective personalrecord 141 in subscriber database 140, selecting or being assigned asubscriber ID 142, and entering personal data 143. In a step 202 theuser enters his or her initial wish-list 145, primarily with respect togame preferences, and in a step 203 registration is concluded, andsystem 100 can now notify the new subscriber to participate in games.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which illustrates an update routine ofpersonal record 141. Such a routine can preferably be called on theuser's initiative at any time, to update his or her personal details orwish-list. Typically, the routine is called after the forum members areintroduced the first time, after completing a game, when new assignments151 are added to assignment database 150, or when another subscriber hasjoined or left the forum. In a step 210 the update procedure starts whenthe subscriber approaches user terminal 120 and logs in properly to gainaccess to his or her personal record 141. In a step 211, the personaldata is updated, if appropriate, for example by changing address orupdating the free hours' details. In a step 212, the subscriber updateshis or her personal wish-list 145, and in a step 213 the procedure isconcluded.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary strategy for game selection by processor160 running game program 165. In a step 220, a game starts upon theinitiative of the forum organizer through manager terminal 130, orautomatically in a pre-scheduled time by game program 165. In a step221, assignment 151 is selected randomly by processor 160 fromassignment database 150; the assignment specifies the required number ofparticipants. In a step 222, processor 160 runs through the personalwish-lists 145 of personal records 141 in subscriber database 140, toidentify subscribers that are suitable for the assignment, andprioritizes them according to their preferences indicated in theirpersonal wish-list 145 and according to game rules 170. For example, ifthe assignment is relates to a couple game of building a snowman, and ifonly two participants have selected building a snowman as theirpreferred assignment while none of them has excluded the other, thesetwo participants can be picked by step 222. If step 222 does not yield asufficient number of participants, the procedure returns to step 221 forselecting an alternative assignment (this branch in the procedure is notshown in FIG. 8). In a step 223 the assignment, including, asappropriate, the assignment description, partner(s), location, and time,is sent to the respective participants. After the game is completed, ina step 224 participants optionally enter their feedback by updatingtheir personal wish-list 145 (see also FIG. 7), and the procedure isconcluded in a step 225, also by updating game participation historyrecord 144 of all participating subscribers. It will be appreciated thatstep 224 may be set by some forum organizers in game rules 170 asmandatory, i.e. as a precondition for participation in the next game, inorder to encourage participants to make a decision regarding theprospective mate and update their wish-list accordingly; obviously, anull update—meaning ‘no change’—is acceptable in this case. The feedbackin step 224 may also include personal advice for the prospective mate,which, after accumulating and blending with other feedback, can beanonymously sent by the system to the prospective mate to suggestimprovements in the way he or she behaves, dresses, etc. Feedback instep 224 may also include the subscriber's ideas on new assignments orimprovements to existing assignments as well as subjectively scoringsuch assignment for effectiveness and enjoyment. Feedback in step 224can also inform the forum organizer about participants who do not obeythe forum rules.

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative exemplary strategy for game selectionby processor 160 running game program 165. The difference in thestrategy of FIG. 9 in comparison with that of FIG. 8 is that in FIG. 9,the participants are selected first, and only then are the respectiveassignments selected. In a step 230, a game starts upon the initiativeof the forum organizer through manager terminal 130 or automatically bygame program 165. In a step 231, a group of one or more subscribers ispicked, for example, a couple. The subscriber couple is picked byprocessor 160 running program 165, preferably involving a random factorreceived from random number generator 160R, as illustrated in moredetail for an example in FIG. 10. Including a random factor bothfacilitates the selection procedure and protects the privacy ofsubscribers, because no one can tell whether a prospective mateselection was made by the subscriber or just by chance. In a step 232,assignment database 150 is scanned by processor 160 to identify matchedcouple assignments from categories 151B (including 151C) that best matchthe preferences of the subscribers picked in step 231, as specified inthe subscribers' respective personal wish-lists 145 and under game rules170. Preferably, an assignment is randomly selected from the assignmentsthat are ranked high. The identified assignments are matched in thesense that they are either identical or complementary in a coordinatedmanner so that they properly combine into an attractive game. In a step233 the matched assignments, including as appropriate, the assignmentdescription, partner(s), location, and time, are sent to the respectiveparticipants. If the matched assignments are complementary and notidentical, such as in a couple game where the man invites the woman fora dinner that he cooked, then the complementary assignments are selectedand sent as appropriate. After the game is completed, in a step 234 theparticipants usually enter their feedback by updating their respectivepersonal wish-list 145 (see also FIG. 7), and the procedure is concludedin a step 235, also by updating the game participation history record144 of the participating subscribers.

Selection of Participants and Assignments

The selection of games within a system according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention includes, for each game, theselection of participating subscribers from subscriber database 140, andselection of assignments from assignment database 150. These selectionsare influenced by personal wish-lists 145 and by game rules 170. Thefollowing description discusses a number of alternative strategies forsuch selections, with focus on selecting subscriber couples, and howrandom number generator 160R can be employed in making such selections.

Reference is made to FIG. 10, which illustrates a simplified forumconsisting of four men and four women. A table 300 describes the partnerpreferences of the participants as derived from their personalwish-lists 145. In table 300, the participants doing the scoring arelisted in the left-most header column, and their preferences runhorizontally in rows. The participants being scored are listed in thetop header row, and their scores run vertically in columns. For example,the first row in table 300 shows that Mary has selected Peter as hermost preferred partner and Paul as a preferred partner. Mary is neutralregarding John, and Jim is excluded by her; these selections aretransformed into table entries ‘9’, ‘6’, ‘1’ and ‘0’, respectively,which describe the relative scores of the selections. The other sevenrows of table 300 describe the partner selection made by the other sevenforum members in their respective wish-lists 145.

A table 310 is derived by processor 160 from table 300, and shows themutual attraction scores of all possible couples, based on totaling theindividual scores selected by the prospective mates, except that if anyof the prospective mates is excluded by the other, the mutual attractionscore is zero. Thus, Mary has given Peter 9 points (‘most preferred’),Peter has given Mary 6 points (‘preferred’), which scores the coupleMary-Peter 15 points in mutual attraction. On the other hand, althoughRachel likes Peter (6 points), Peter dislikes Rachel (0 points) whichyields the mutual attraction score of ‘0’. Thus table 310 reflects themutual attraction of the potential couples, and the higher the mutualattraction score, the greater is the chance that a couple is selectedfor the next game.

The following examples demonstrate three couple-selection strategies,which may be decided by the forum organizer through game rules 170. Itwill be noted that in the present example none of the couples hasreached the mutual attraction score ‘18’, which would have made itcompulsory to select them as a couple, according to selection rules 171B(FIG. 5). Exemplary selection strategies in accordance to preferredembodiments of the present invention include:

-   -   Favoring the poor: John's only chance is with Rachel, who is the        only one who has not excluded him and was not excluded by him.        Therefore, the couple John-Rachel could be first selected. This,        however, could be unfair to Rachel-Jim, who clearly prefer the        company of each other.    -   Favoring the rich: Peter-Mary score highest, and therefore could        be selected first, followed by selecting Rachel-Jim, who score        second, etc.    -   Making a random selection, weighted by the mutual attraction but        leaving the final decision to chance. A table 320 describes        ranges of integers granted to each of the ten non-zero couples.        Range 1-15 is granted to Mary-Peter for their ‘15’ mutual        attraction points from table 310. The next range of seven        integer numbers 16-22 is granted to Mary-Paul for their ‘7’        mutual attraction points. Table 320 ends with granting the range        57-58 to Suzy-Paul for their ‘2’ mutual attraction points. Thus,        the integer range 1-58 has been created and divided into        sub-ranges whose respective spans represent the probability of        selecting a couple according to the respective mutual attraction        score. Random number generator 160R is now called to draw a        number in the range of 1-58 with uniform probability. If, for        instance, number 21 comes up, then the couple Mary-Paul is        selected, in spite of the greater score (and probability) for        selecting the couple Mary-Peter. Then Paul and Mary are removed        from table 310, along with their respective row and column, and        table 310 is truncated into a 3×3 table, leading to a more        compact form of table 320, and another random number is drawn        within the corresponding truncated number range to select the        next couple.

All the mate-selection strategies described above, as well ascombinations thereof, are acceptable in various embodiments of thepresent invention. However, the strategy used in most examples below isthe random-selection approach.

Under any strategy, there is a possibility that there remain subscriberswho cannot be matched to other subscribers within the current session ofgames. Such subscribers can be referred to single-subscriber games fromthe 151A category or multiple-subscriber games from category 151D, withan opportunity to exhibit their qualities to other subscribers, as wellas enjoying the game by itself. In the next session of games thesesingle subscribers may be selected to participate in a couples' gamebecause they have been upgraded in the wish-list of others, or havereduced the number of unacceptable partners in their own wish-list, orhave just been more fortunate with respect to the drawings made byrandom number generator 160R.

If the numbers of men and women are unequal, it could be advantageous toallocate only, say, 75% of the minority sex members to couples' games,and then move all remaining men and women to single or group gameswithin the current session. During the next game session others may beselected for couples' games under the rules of the system.

It will be appreciated that the couple selection strategy illustrated inFIG. 10 offers equality between men and women, since the scores forpreference and mutual attraction calculated in tables 300 and 310,respectively, are based on symmetric scoring rules. Although this policymay be preferred by many, a forum or forum organizer may select to useasymmetric rules, such as granting higher weight to the wishes for womenover those of men. For example, a woman preferred by man can be granted6 points in table 300, while a man preferred by a woman can be granted 8points, giving women a higher chance to meet with their preferredprospective mates, in case of conflict between wishes. For instance,under the symmetric policy of FIG. 10, Peter has an identicalprobability to be assigned as a prospective mate to Anna and to Suzy(both score ‘7’ in table 310). Under the asymmetric policy, however,Peter-Suzy would still score ‘7’, while Peter-Anna would score ‘9’ andwill have higher probability to meet, because of the higher weight givento the woman's (Anna's) wish.

FIG. 10A illustrates an exemplary game selection strategy for couplesselected by the procedure described above with respect to FIG. 10 or byan alternative strategy. Table 330 summarizes the individual gameranking by the participants, made under the scheme described withrespect to FIG. 4B. ‘A’, ‘B’, . . . , ‘H’ are placeholders for gamespecifications presented to the subscribers when they fill-in theirassignment preference 145A in wish list 145. In the case of a gamecomposed of complementary rather than identical assignments, a specificplaceholder (e.g. ‘A’) represents the appropriate assignment for eachparticipants; for example, if a couple game involves a man inviting awoman to a dinner he cooked, then ‘A’ is presented to the men as ‘invite. . . ’ while to the women same ‘A’ is presented as ‘be invited . . . ’.Table 340 summarizes the mutual assignment ranks by adding theindividual ranks of all possible couples. Thus the mutual rank of game Eby the couple Mary-Peter is ‘13’ since Mary has ranked this game ‘4’ andPeter has ranked it ‘9’ (see table 330). Thus if Mary and Peter havebeen picked by step 231 of FIG. 9, then assignment E would preferably beselected for them, unless their history record 144 shows that they havealready shared this assignment, which would lead assignment H to beselected. It will be noted that in realistic embodiments beyond thepresent simplified examples, the number and variety of selectableassignments is substantially higher than the eight assignments A-H,which would have led to many more possibilities for mutual assignmentselections. If there are several selectable assignments that rankequally, random number generator 160R is preferably called in step 232to facilitate selection.

It will be appreciated that the example of FIG. 10A employs thesimplified assignment ranking paradigm of FIG. 4B, wherein assignmentranking by a subscriber is insensitive to the prospective mate. If theparadigm of FIG. 4C is chosen instead, then each value in table 340 ofFIG. 10A will then take into account the finer ranking offered by thelatter paradigm. For example, the mutual rank by Mary and Peter ofassignment E will total the rank that Mary has selected for havingassignment E with Peter (which may differ than the rank of havingassignment E with Paul, as demonstrated in table 145A-2 of FIG. 4C) andthe rank that Peter has selected for having assignment E with Mary.

FIGS. 11 and 12 generalize the couple selection and game selectionprocesses illustrated by the example of FIGS. 10-10A. Reference is nowmade to FIG. 11, where a game session is started in step 500 byprocessor 160. In a step 501, processor 160 runs through allcombinations of participating men and women, and calculates their mutualattraction score; this can be made by adding the individual respectivescores as in the example of FIG. 10, by multiplying the scores, or byusing other formulas that give a higher value to the mutual attractionscore with higher individual score, even possibly asymmetrically withrespect to men's scores versus women's scores, as explained above.Optionally, psychological models analyzing the compatibility ofprospective mates can be factored into the mutual attraction calculation(e.g. by adding 4 points to the mutual attraction score calculation fora ‘very compatible couple’), thus adding external wisdom to theinstinctive judgment by the participants. Also, the mutual attractionscore optionally and preferably factors-in the latest individual scorechanges; for example, if two participants have just upgraded each other,i.e. demonstrated an increase in their mutual interest, they may benefitfrom an extra bonus of 5 points added to their mutual score. However,the calculation algorithm preferably ensures that any individual scoreof ‘0’ (i.e. an excluded prospective mate) results in a ‘0’ in themutual attraction score. In a step 502, mandatory couples are identifiedand selected. This includes all couples who have mutually selected eachother as their unique ‘most preferred prospective mate’ (say ‘9’), aswell as all other couples whose mutual attraction score has reached ‘18’by added factors as described above.

In a step 503, processor 160 attempts, for each mandatory couple, toassign a mutually-acceptable game, as illustrated in more detail in FIG.12. When the assignment is successful, then in a step 504 the selectedgame is addressed as a couple of matched assignments to the participantsvia their respective user terminals 120. If no game is foundmutually-acceptable in step 503, then in a step 505 the couple isnotified through their respective user terminals 120 that they are toorestrictive in their wish-lists regarding games and therefore have beenreassigned with a different partner. The couple is not matched, and theparticipants are returned to the subscriber pool, for identifyingalternative prospective mates with a better match with respect to gameselection. The terms “subscriber pool” and “pool” herein denote thesubscribers from the forum who are available for assignment selectionwithin the current game session.

In a step 506, the remaining subscribers, after removing the successfulmatches in step 504 from the pool, are ready for further matching, andthe system decides how many of them can be matched according to the gamerules. In a non-limiting example this could be done by counting 75% ofthe minority sex in the forum and subtracting those matched in step 504.For instance, if the subscriber pool started with an entire forum of 20women and 24 men, and if in step 504 four couples have been matched,then the overall number to be matched for couples' games is 15 (75% of20—which is the number of participants of the minority sex). Fourcouples have already been matched by step 504; therefore, in step 506 itis calculated that 11 couples are still left to be matched.

In a step 507, a selection space is created by processor 160, weightingin the mutual attraction of all couple combinations of the opposite sexthat were not extracted by step 504 and did not exclude each other,similar to the example of table 320 in FIG. 10. In the space accordingto the example of table 320 of FIG. 10, each possible couple is assigneda unique range of integers whose size varies according to the mutualattraction score calculated in step 501. In a step 508, random generator160R is called to select a random integer within the selection spacegenerated in step 507; the random number falls within the number rangeof a specific couple, and this couple is selected, and the selectionspace is recalculated to eliminate the selected couple members andtruncate the selection space size. Then another couple is selected,until the desired number of couples, determined in step 506, is reached.

In a step 509 each couple selected in step 508 is assigned a game inaccordance to the mutual preference of the prospective mates, asdescribed in step 503 above. Successful games are addressed tosuccessful couples, in the form of matched game assignments, in a step510 as in step 504. If no mutual game can be assigned to the selectedcouple, then in a step 511 the participants are notified that they aretoo restrictive, and are returned to the pool. Then, the remainingsubscribers are reselected by steps 507, 508 and 509, until the numberof couples reaches the target calculated in step 506, or until apredefined number of attempts is reached.

In a step 512, all forum members not selected by step 504 or step 510are preferably assigned single or group assignments, which bothentertain them and allow them to better know and get to be known byother forum participants. This is done by selecting assignmentsaccording to the preferences of the subscribers, as expressed in theirwish-lists. The procedure is concluded in a step 513, where the gamesession actually commences according to the assignments addressed to theforum subscribers.

FIG. 12 illustrates in more detail the game selection proceduredescribed above with respect to steps 503 and 509 of FIG. 11. Theprocedure starts in a step 550 which is called either by step 503 or bystep 509 of FIG. 11. The selection is made for a specific couple ofparticipants of the opposite sex, from those selected by step 502 or508. The assignments are selected from the couple assignments 151B(including 151C) of FIG. 3. In a step 551, assignments given to any ofthe participants during the most recent three game sessions arepreferably removed from the list, to avoid boring repetition. In a step552, assignments that are too intense or intimate for the current stageof acquaintance between the participants, are removed from the list aswell, as explained above, for example, with respect to fields 152C and152D of FIG. 3A. In a step 553, it is determined whether any matchedassignments have remained from the couple assignments 151B (including151C) after the filters that have been applied by steps 551 and 552. Ifno assignment has survived, then game selection fails in step 570(however, it will be appreciated that assignment database 150 isexpected to preclude such events by including a very large number ofpossible assignments in all assignment categories of database 150 ofFIG. 3). In a step 554, the mutual interest of the participants in eachsurviving assignment is calculated, for example by totaling theassignment ranks in accordance with field 145A of FIG. 4, but excludingassignments that are excluded by any of the participants. If no mutualmatched assignments can be identified in step 554 (i.e. all matchedassignments acceptable to one participant have been excluded by theother), then a step 555 identifies this situation, leading to assignmentselection failure in step 570, which further leads to step 505 or step511 of FIG. 11. It will be appreciated, however, that a rich variety ofassignments in assignment database 150 of FIG. 3, as well as theassignments selection rules 171C of FIG. 5, make the event of step 570extremely improbable.

From the available matched assignments, in a step 556 processor 160randomly selects a pair of matched assignments that has a high mutualassignment rank. In a step 557 the matched assignments are addressed toeach of the participants (actually via step 504 or 510 of FIG. 11), andin a step 558, the couple game selection is concluded for the currentcouple, and game selection is performed for the next selected couple, ifappropriate.

Arranging a Series of Games

Preferably, the games of the present invention are played in series,whereby the same forum of subscribers participates in a plurality ofgame sessions devised to establish and develop relationships among theforum members. For example, a game series can be made up of thirty gamesessions, spanning six weekend parties. Each game session preferablyinvolves all forum subscribers, participating in either couple, singleor group games played concurrently or in synchronization; for example,an off-party couple game may be scheduled to take place anytime betweentwo consecutive parties, according to the free-time schedules of the twoparticipants.

FIG. 13 schematically illustrates a series of games, initiated in a step400 by a forum organizer. In a step 401, a forum of subscribers isestablished. This can be accomplished by registering new subscribers asillustrated in FIG. 6, and/or by including a subset of a previous forum.In a step 402, assignment database 150 is established by the forumorganizer, to include assignments relevant to the current session; forexample, building a snowman is not applicable for games taking place insummer, and a forum of people living in different states or countriesmay limit all games to virtual assignments only. In a step 403, thesubscriber database is established. New members enter their personaldetails and wish-lists (whereas members that have joined from a previousforum may find their older record imported into the new database), andthen update their personal details and re-enter their wish-list inresponse to changes in the assignment database, the forum subscribers,and changing tastes. In a step 404 the forum organizer establishes thegame rules, possibly with many or all of them being imported from aprevious game series or from an external database (e.g. a community oruniverse database, as described with respect to FIG. 14 below). Thenumber of game sessions (for example, thirty), and their timetable (forexample, six weekend parties with five game sessions per party), areentered in a step 405 by the forum organizer into game program 165.Preferably, in step 406 the forum members are introduced to one another,by publishing over the Internet, with access to the forum members only,their basic details, such as ID, nickname, age, photo, profession andinterests; additionally or alternatively, by the discretion of the forumorganizer, forum members may hold an introductory event beforecommencing their first game, which could include, for example, briefone-on-one speed dates between all forum participants of the oppositesex. The mutual introductions are followed by wish-list entries of allparticipants, to facilitate assignment and prospective mate selection bygame generator 110, toward the first game session. In a step 407 thegame session count is checked, and after the last session the gameseries is concluded in a step 430. Otherwise, a new game session startsin a step 409, where subscriber database 140 is refreshed, for exampleto reflect the absence of some forum members; this also affects thewish-list 145 of attending members that may have previously selectedabsent members as their preferred prospective mates. In a step 410,couples are selected for couple games, for example by the random methodshown in FIG. 10. The number of couples selected in step 410 for couplegames might be, for example, 75% of the subscribers of the minority sex(men or women), so that there remain a sufficient number of the oppositesex to attend and induce interest in one-player and multiple-playergames. In a step 411 each couple selected in step 410 is assigned amatched pair of couple assignments from databases 151B (including 151C),and in a step 412 each of the remaining subscribers is assigned aone-player assignment or a group assignment from databases 151A or 151D.In a step 413, all games are announced by sending messages describingthe respective assignments to all subscribers through user terminals120. The games are then played, and upon the conclusion of the currentgame session, participants are invited in a step 414 to enter theirfeedback, primarily by updating their personal wish-list via userterminals 120. In a step 415, the subscriber database is updated toreflect changes in the personal wish-lists 145 and game participationhistory 144. In a step 416, the session count is increased by 1, and instep 407 either the session is concluded in a step 430, or is continuedin step 409 in accordance to the game session schedule.

It will be appreciates that a game series can include face-to-faceassignments, virtual assignments, or a combination thereof, as adaptedto the goals of the forum, the geographies of the subscribers, theweather conditions, and the wish-lists of the participants.

The Overall Picture

A system of the present invention operates within a forum ofsubscribers. However, such a system can be a subset of larger system, asillustrated in FIGS. 14-15 and discussed below.

FIG. 14 illustrates an abstract structure of frameworks for implementingembodiments of the present invention. A universe 601 includes allsubscribers and entities involved in implementing the present invention.Universe 601 includes a set of communities 602, each community of whichincludes a plurality of subscribers registering to participate in gamesorganized according to embodiments of the present invention, and led bya community organizer. The community is then subdivided by the communityorganizer into a set of forums 603, each of which is a basic element ofgame organization. Thus, a community may include a large group ofsubscribers in New York City subdivided by age, profile and geographyinto many small forums of, say, 12 men and 12 women in each forum. Aftera game session (see FIG. 13) is completed, those who found a materetire, and the remaining members can then be divided into those whoshow substantial mutual attraction by their mutual attraction score, andthose who show no interest in each other. The community organizer canthen reshuffle the compatible community members into new forums, keepingtogether those with higher mutual attraction and separating the othersinto new forums with a new chance to identify and being identified as adesirable mate. While different forums may have strong interactionswithin the same community, different communities usually do not interactat the subscriber level, but may still share a central knowledge baseand game and game rule databases within universe 601.

FIG. 15 illustrates the architecture of an embodiment of a computersystem 605 underlying the structure of FIG. 14. A master server 610contains a knowledge base in the form of electronic articles to guidecommunity and forum organizers as well as subscribers, and databases ofgames and games rules. These resources are partly developed by expertsand are entered through a master terminal 611. Subscribers, forumorganizer and community organizer can also contribute and uploadresources onto community servers 620 and master server 610. A communityserver 620 is preferably an Internet server containing knowledge basearticles, game and game rule databases, and services for game generators110, as well as a community subscriber database. Community server 620 iscontrolled by the community organizer through a terminal 621, to select,customize and translate (where necessary) a subset of games andknowledge articles from master server 610, add games and knowledgearticles of its own, and establish forums from of the communitymembership.

Continuing with FIG. 15, game generator 110, manager terminal 130 anduser terminals 120, are as previously described and illustrated in FIGS.1-13. The element emphasized in FIG. 15 is, however, that game generator110 can be implemented as either a stand-alone physical server 110P, oras a virtual server 110V, e.g., a logical partition within therespective community server 620 or even a partition within master server610. Thus, community server 620 can host a plurality of game generators110, each controlled autonomously by a respective forum organizerthrough respective manager terminal 130. Similarly, master server 610can host community servers 620 and game generators 110V. Similar hostingarrangements can extend to servers out of the framework of the presentinvention, as is common with distributed computing resources. In a mostcompact embodiment of the present invention, a single personal computercan serve as a game generator 110, manager terminal 130 and public userterminal 125 that allow private log-in of the subscribers. Such acompact setup can adequately serve the needs of participants of a party.Adding a short range communication port to such a personal computer,such as infrared, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, can offer extra convenience tousers who have compatible telephones, beepers or palmtop computers thatserve as personal terminals 123.

The present invention is thus scalable, and embodiments thereof supportsmall systems having a single game generator that runs a single game ina single forum as well as large systems (as illustrated in FIGS. 14-15),capable of extending across different countries, cultures, andlanguages. This emphasizes the nature of the components of the presentinvention as logical entities that are not limited by a specificphysical arrangement.

Game Customization

Assignment databases and assignment particulars may be customized atvarious levels by various players. A community organizer may selectivelychoose games that are suited to the culture of the local community aswell as to the season and climate. A forum organizer may furtherselectively choose assignments in accordance with the age and profile ofthe forum members, and add specific assignment attributes. For example,if a couple assignment description involves having a dinner at arestaurant, the forum organizer may add the name of the restaurant, thenumber of the pre-ordered table, and the date and time of the meeting.Assignments may also be fine-tuned by subscribers. For instance, anassignment to a couple visiting the theater may be first sent to thewoman for selecting the show, date and time, and only then be sent tothe selected prospective mate with the specifics already determined.

“Reality Show” Featuring Games

Although the primary use of the system of the present invention is formanaging games for introducing people to others according to theirdiscrete wish-list, and furthering the development of interpersonalrelations, such a system can also be the basis of a televised “realityshow” that broadcasts the games to an audience.

FIG. 16 schematically illustrates a reality show setup 800, whereinsystem 100 of FIG. 1 cooperates with a show system 810 to implement areality show based on the games of the present invention. Game system100 includes game generator 110, and user terminals 120, as illustratedin FIG. 1. A manager terminal 130′ can have the same functions asmanager terminal 130 of FIG. 1 as described above. Alternatively, all orsome of the functions of manager terminal 130 can be moved to a showediting system 812, leaving only a subset of roles to terminal 130′, oreven moving all manager functions to editing system 812 thus eliminatingmanager terminal 130′ altogether. Subscribers participating in the gameby using user terminals 120 are aware of, and approve of the publicityof the games including all or part of their wish-lists (which undernormal circumstances are kept secret). Show system 810 is a regular TVshow system, including TV cameras 811 to record the games, show editingsystem 812 to control and edit the show, and a broadcast system 813 todistribute the show via TV channels such as radio-frequencytransmission, satellite, or cable. Show editing system 812 alsointeroperates with game generator 100 to retrieve wish-list detailstherefrom and/or undertake all or part of the roles of manager terminal130 of FIG. 1, as described above. Show editing system 812 preferablyalso includes recording equipment for non-live broadcasts; it will beappreciated that recorded shows are preferable in case of a game seriesthat spans several separate sessions, in order to hide the wish listfrom the participants during and between the games while revealing it tothe audience.

Using a Call Router

When assignment database 150 (FIG. 2) includes virtual assignments,subscribers may need to interact electronically via personal terminals123 (FIG. 1). However, in many situations it may be desirable to protectthe contact details of subscribers from other subscribers for theinitial or entire duration of the game series.

FIG. 17 schematically illustrates call router 180 (FIG. 2), whichincludes well-known and widely-used solutions to allow subscribers tocommunicate with one another without disclosing their telephone numbersor email addresses. A telephone call forward service 183 is used by theforum organizer to route calls from dedicated phone numbers owned by theforum organizer to selected subscribers. For example, a man whoseassignment is to have a telephone discussion with a woman at a certaintime, calls a forum phone number specified in the assignment, and thecall is routed automatically to the assigned woman, so that none of theparticipants learn the telephone number of the other. A telephoneconference service 185 is a common service, allowing, for example, agroup of subscribers to join a group discussion without disclosing theindividual telephone numbers; thus the assigned participants receive intheir assignment the number of the conference service and time to makethe call. An email forward service 187 is used by the forum organizer toreceive, in a forum email address, a message from a subscriber, andforward only its content to the private email address of the selectedaddressee. An Internet chat room 189 can be established for a specificcouple or group interaction, without disclosing the addresses of theparticipants.

It will be appreciated that the examples above represent only a sampleof known technical possibilities for managing an electronic interactionwithout disclosing the participants' contact details.

Games Composed of Interdependent Assignments

As already described above, each individual assignment under the presentinvention is devised to entertain the participants, highlight theirpositive features, and induce mutual interest between prospective mates.Also, it has been described (for example with respect to step 552 ofFIG. 12) that assignment selection preferably escalates the level of theassignment's intensity and intimacy in accordance with the stage ofmutual acquaintance between the prospective mates, that can be measured,for example, by the serial number of their mutual meeting, as well as bythe mutual attraction score.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated that a game can be composed of asequence of interdependent assignments that are logically ordered notonly by their intimacy and intensity levels but additionally oralternatively by their content. For example, a game can include a‘culture package’ that starts with a movie, followed by a visit to themuseum, the theater, the opera, and finally Yankee stadium. A coupleassigned to this package may be planned by the system to execute theentire tour within, say, two weeks, before being assigned a differentgame. Preferably, however, the participants are not aware of the factthat each of their assignments is a part of a broader game, and arenotified of each assignment separately as if it belongs to a separatestandalone game. This gives each of the participants an option to changeher or his mind, and by excluding their partner in their wish-list thesequence is broken with nobody noticing the discontinuity, and newprospective mates and assignments are selected and assigned as usual.

Working with Varying Assignment Databases

Assignment Database 150 of FIG. 2 has been described above as a staticentity that is customized toward a specific game series of a specificforum and remains fixed during the entire game series and uniform forall participants. The game selection by processor 160 has been describedhowever as preferably escalatory, to adapt the intensity and intimacylevels of couple assignments to the stage of mutual acquaintance.

In an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention, theassignments available to a subscriber during a game series and ready forranking in his or her wish list may include dynamic assignments that arepersonalized (adapted to the subscriber), escalatory (in apre-programmed order for building relationships gradually) andasymmetric (such as different, complementary assignments presented tomen and women). The main advantage of such dynamic allocation ofselectable assignments is for couples who have already selected eachother as ‘the most preferred one’ (‘9’) and the game assignments thenturn to focus on building the relationship and assisting theparticipants in evaluating each other's personality traits.

FIG. 18 describes schematically how game assignment database 150 of FIG.2 is optionally subdivided into subsets 150-1, 150-2, . . . , 150-N.Each subset represents a snapshot of the assignments presently offeredto a specific subscriber. The subsets usually overlap, i.e. similarassignments may be offered simultaneously to several subscribers. Thus,assignment database 150 is actually the union of all individual subsetsduring the entire game series. However, effectively, only a specificsubset is customized and offered to each subscriber toward a specificgame session, and the remainder of the assignments from database 150will neither be shown to the subscriber nor will it be selected byprocessor 160.

FIG. 19 describes a series of advanced couple games for a man-womancouple who have already scored each other as ‘the most preferredprospective mate’ (e.g. score ‘9’). Processor 160 then runs underprogram 165 (FIG. 2) to offer game assignments that are aimed atbuilding up the relationship and exposing each other to the otherperson's personality traits. The procedure starts in step 842 byselecting to assign K game sessions to the couple, where K is the numberof steps devised to let the participants get to know each other. Step844 starts to loop through the K game assignments, to end up theprocedure by either: completing the K assignments in step 860; mutuallyselecting to retire before the series completion (not shown); or havingone of the participants select to downgrade the other participantthrough his or her wish list (not shown). In step 846 processor 160personalizes and escalates assignments from assignment database 150 inorder to customize an assignment subset 150-I and 150-J for theparticipating man and woman, respectively. An example for personalizedsubsets are those which include concerts and exclude hiking for a couplewhich has already indicated that both love music and hate outdoorsactivities. An example for escalating subsets is offering a ‘retire fromthe forum’ assignment only to one who has selected another as ‘the mostpreferred one’, or offering a romantic, self-cooked dinner the firsttime only at the 10th mutual assignment. In step 848 the currentrespective assignment database subset is presented to each of the twoparticipants; if appropriate, the assignments are presented inasymmetric language; for example, one of the currently-selectableassignment maybe presented to the man as ‘invite the woman to a dinneryou cooked’, while the woman will see ‘agree to be invited to a dinnerhe cooked’. In optional step 850, a guide from guide database 182 isissued by processor 160 via terminal 120, separately to each of theparticipants, to provide knowledge regarding what is the purpose of thecurrent stage, and tips and ideas with respect to selecting and handlingthe offered assignments. In step 852 the two participants are invited byprocessor 160 to enter their updated scores to their wish list throughuser terminals 120; this is the opportunity of the participants also toselect retirements from the forum (which will be respected by processor160 only if both select it) or any of the participants selecting todowngrade the other, thus breaking the loop 844 (not shown); also theassignment ranks may be updated. In step 854, processor 160 weights-inthe assignment ranks made by the two participants with respect to theactives assignment database subsets 150-I and 150-J, and selects andannounces the best match. After completing the assignment (not shown),the game session count is increased by 1, and the procedure moves to thenext assignment in step 844.

Four Layers of Interpersonal Interaction

It will be appreciated that the system of the present invention offersat least the following four layers of interpersonal interaction: (1)participants meet one another face-to-face in a social context, and arepersonally familiar with each other in the games; (2) couple games giveparticipants the opportunity to interact intensively with prospectivemates; (3) couple competition games add a dimension of teamwork, mutualreliance, and interdependency; and (4) there is a group dynamics inducedby the fact that participants compete among themselves for the sameprospective mates; this encourages conscious decision-making, keepingscores up-to-date, and making a best effort to be attractive todesirable prospective mates.

A Variation Without Assignment Ranking

The preferred embodiments described above allowed the subscriber to bothscore the prospective mates and rank his or her interest in assignmentsfrom assignment database 150 (FIG. 2). In this way, the subscriberaffects both with whom he or she will meet, and what they will dotogether. However, it will be noted that some preferred embodiments ofthe present invention may exclude assignment ranking by theparticipants, and then personal wish list 145 (FIG. 4) includesprospective mate scores 145M, but assignment ranks 145A are excluded.This optional policy presumes that all assignments in assignmentdatabase 150 are acceptable by all participants, or at least that thesystem can decide which assignments are adequate, for example byrelating to the age or hobbies from personal data record 143 of theparticipant, and/or by receiving input through manager terminal 130 fromthe forum organizer, who makes an educated assignment selection for theparticipants. In such a case, the assignment selection rules 171C (FIG.5) exclude taking into account the respective assignment ranking butpreferably take into account escalatory rules such as adapting theintensity and intimacy levels of the assignment to the serial number ofthe mutual meeting and/or to the mutual attraction score of therespective participants. Thus, the concept of assignment selection, suchas in step 221 of FIG. 8, step 232 of FIG. 9, or step 411 of FIG. 13,remains meaningful even if such selection does not take into accountexpress assignment ranking by the participants but only external rulesincluded in assignment selection rules 171C of FIG. 5.

Comments, Additions, Variations, and Enhancements

User ideas and feedback can enrich the system and customize it. Thus,part of the user feedback entered during wish-list updates (e.g. step234 of FIG. 9) can include ideas for new assignments as well as critiqueand suggestions for improving existing assignments. In return, a userwho offers a new game for the forum can benefit from having an exclusiveright to have this game assigned to him or her (along with theprospective mate) within the current game series.

The game assignments and game rules described above are exemplary andare brought for the purpose of demonstrating the system's operation andmaking the specification clear and tangible. It will be appreciated thatthe system of the present invention can support an ever-evolving set ofgame assignments and game rules.

The game program or forum organizers may designate some assignments asrequiring additional subscriber approval before execution. For example,a subscriber may receive a message “you have been selected for a swim inthe lake with one of your preferred prospective mates. Please confirm orreject”.

Some assignments, such as dining in a restaurant or participating in atrip, may have an associated additional cost. Such additional cost andthe way payment is to be made are included in the assignment details,and may require pre-approval by the subscriber.

When SMS-capable cellular telephones, two-way beepers or wirelesspalmtop computers are used as personal terminals 123, an abbreviatedmessaging protocol is preferably used, preferably accompanied by aprinted guide. An exemplary printed guide includes a legend with a twodigit code in the range 01-30 assigned for each of the participants,another two-digit code in the range 31-99 assigned for each of theavailable assignments, and instructions to send short messages such as‘219’ to update the wish list of the sender by scoring participant ‘21’as ‘the most preferred one’ (‘9’), or sending a message ‘550’ to excludeassignment ‘55’ by ranking it ‘0’. In the case of the paradigm of FIG.4C, where an assignment is ranked with respect to a prospective mate, amessage such as ‘57169’ may express the sender's ranking ‘9’ assignment‘57’ with respect to prospective mate ‘16’. In larger forums and/orlarger game variety, a three-digit coding scheme can be employed foridentifying prospective mates or assignments. Such coded messages areaddressed to game processor 160, which identifies and authenticates thesender through the respective caller ID and/or through additional IDdigits that the user adds to the message, and then updates therespective wish list accordingly. It would be noted that instead of SMS,which is a digital messaging format, any other communication method canbe used, such as DTMF dial tones that can be applied by telephone usersfor entering abbreviated messages as described above. Additionally oralternatively, known voice-recognition technologies can be used toreceive such messages using human voice; also the messages sent by gameprocessor 160 can be in the form of synthesized voice messages.

Advantages Over, and Cooperation with, Existing Systems

The present invention offers many advantageous aspects that are notcovered by existing systems. Non-limiting examples of such advantagesinclude:

-   -   nurturing the mutual evolution of interest and affection through        a carefully-crafted series of games;    -   games involve activities selected discreetly by the participants        to highlight their personal qualities and/or examine the        qualities of the prospective mate;    -   adapting the level of intensity and intimacy of games in        accordance to the stage of relationships and the mutual        attraction score;    -   couples are assigned a mutual assignment, where both the        prospective mate selection and assignment selection reflect the        preferences of the participants, but wherein a random factor        masks these expressed preferences to protect the participants'        privacy;    -   establishing opportunities for a second impression and second        chance by generating unexpected meeting opportunities that        highlight the favorable qualities of the participants;    -   initiating single and group games to entertain participants and        acquaint them with each other;    -   involving all forum members in social interactions with others        even if they were not initially chosen as a preferred        prospective mate by others;    -   developing mutual acquaintance and attraction through        prescribed, escalating stages of interaction.

However, existing systems can facilitate preparations toward theoperation of the present invention:

-   -   Existing singles' organizations, clubs, meeting places and        Internet singles' forums can provide communities 602 of FIG. 14,        from which forums 603 can be derived to participate in games in        accordance to the present invention.    -   Existing matchmaking algorithms, profiling knowledge and        computer programs can assist community organizers in selecting        compatible subscribers to derive forums 603 from communities        602.    -   Brief introductory speed dates among all forum members of the        opposite sex could precede the games of the present invention,        in order to provide the basis for the initial wish-list entries,        as described above with respect to step 406 of FIG. 13.        While the invention has been described with respect to a limited        number of embodiments, it will be appreciated by persons skilled        in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has        been particularly shown and described herein. Rather the scope        of the present invention includes both combinations and        sub-combinations of the various features described herein, as        well as variations and modifications which would occur to        persons skilled in the art upon reading the specification and        which are not in the prior art.

1. An apparatus for generating social assignments for a plurality ofsubscribers, comprising: a first database containing a plurality ofassignments; a second database containing a personal wish list for eachsubscriber of the plurality of subscribers; a processor operative, inresponse to said second database's personal wish lists, to: pick atleast one subscriber from the plurality of subscribers, and assign toeach of said at least one subscriber a selected assignment from saidfirst database; and an input interface operative to selectably receive,subsequent to said pick operation and said assign operation, an updatefor the personal wish list of each said at least one subscriber.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor includes a random numbergenerator, and wherein said processor performs said pick operation inresponse also to a random number generated by said random numbergenerator.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said processor includesa random number generator, and wherein said processor performs saidassign operation in response also to a random number generated by saidrandom number generator.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, operable for saidat least one subscriber being exactly one subscriber.
 5. The apparatusof claim 1, operable for said at least one subscriber being twosubscribers.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein: said second databaseincludes, in each said personal wish list, individual scores of therespective subscriber's level of interest in other subscribers from theplurality of subscribers; and said pick operation performed by saidprocessor is according to at least said individual scores of said twosubscribers with respect to each other.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6,wherein said pick operation performed by said processor is accordingalso to a plurality of additional individual scores by subscribers fromthe plurality of subscribers, said additional individual scores beingother than said individual scores of said two subscribers with respectto each other.
 8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein: said seconddatabase includes, in each said personal wish list, individual scores ofthe respective subscriber's level of interest in other subscribers; andsaid pick operation performed by said processor includes the actions of:calculating a mutual attraction for combinations of subscriber pairsbased on the respective mutual individual scores, and choosing said twosubscribers according to said mutual attraction of said two subscribers.9. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein: said second database includes, ineach said personal wish list, a ranking of the respective subscriber'slevel of interest in assignments from said first database; and saidassign operation performed by said processor includes selecting saidselected assignments from said first database according to said rankingby each of said two subscribers.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, operablefor said at least one subscriber being at least three subscribers. 11.The apparatus of claim 1, operable for said selected assignment being aface-to-face assignment.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, operable for saidselected assignment being a virtual assignment.
 13. The apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising at least one TV camera and a broadcastsystem for providing a reality show.
 14. An apparatus for generatingassignments for a plurality of subscribers, comprising: an inputinterface for receiving from each subscriber of the plurality ofsubscribers: a scoring of said each subscriber's level of interest inother subscribers from the plurality of subscribers, and a ranking ofsaid each subscriber's level of interest in assignments from anassignment database; and an output interface for sending to eachsubscriber of a selected group of two subscribers a respectiveassignment, wherein: said selected group of two subscribers has beenpicked in response to said scorings by said plurality of subscribers,and said respective assignments have been assigned in response to saidrankings by said selected group's subscribers.
 15. The apparatus ofclaim 14, wherein said selected group has been picked also according toa random number.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said respectiveassignments have been assigned also according to a random number. 17.The apparatus of claim 14, operable for each said respective assignmentbeing a face-to-face assignment.
 18. The apparatus of claim 14, operablefor each said respective assignment being a virtual assignment.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 14, further comprising at least one TV camera and abroadcast system for providing a reality show.
 20. A system forgenerating assignments for a plurality of subscribers, comprising: anapparatus including: an input interface for receiving from eachsubscriber of the plurality of subscribers: a scoring of said eachsubscriber's level of interest in other subscribers from the pluralityof subscribers, and a ranking of said each subscriber's level ofinterest in assignments from an assignment database, and an outputinterface for sending to each subscriber of a selected group of twosubscribers a respective assignment, wherein: said selected group of twosubscribers has been picked according to said scorings by said pluralityof subscribers, and said respective assignments have been assignedaccording to said rankings by said selected group's subscribers; and atleast one user terminal, each user terminal allocated to a subscriber ofsaid plurality of subscribers for selectably communicating with saidinput interface of said apparatus for sending thereto said subscriber'sscoring and ranking.